Fridges

Terry · Member

Fridges

dave06 · Guru

G'day Terry, the reason I dont make mention of a "three way" is that I am not a great beleiver in them, they have too many problems to be classed as a "reliable" fridge

(1) they must be absolutely level in all directions to keep the ammonia circulating and therefore "cooling"

(2) they are really only good up to a temp of 35degs

(3) tottally useless in the tropics unless it is "T" rated which then makes it equivelent in price to an engel or waeco in which case I would buy the engel

3 ways are ok if one only venures out in perfect weather and for short periods, great with the kids for a long weekend away with mild weather, dont expect too much more from them,

we have one in the camper (an upright) and if we relied on that as our sole means of food preservation then we would be in major strife a lot of times

I will be howled down in droves by three way owners but the truth of the matter is if you take a walk around any large carpark in any large supermarket and have a squizz in the back of the puddle jumpers, see how many three way fridges you see

Dragonfly · Veteran Member

Must agree with Dave on this one.

We have a 3 way fridge which works well when (as Dave said) it is totally level ( a real pain to achieve at times) and when the weather is mild (think mid-winter camping)

While camping over the Christmas break, we ended up just using the esky and bought ice daily. Luckily we were at a camping site with a small shop that sold ice.

We are planning on buying a Waeco 80l 12/240v fridge/freezer this year... before next summer.

Morag

Terry · Member

Thanks for that info - must admit to be totally ignorant when it comes to camping and the various outlets I have been to they just seem to bombard you with all this technical info, want to sell you the item and get you out of the place asap so in laymans terms what does one do regards to running a fridge in the middle of nowhere. (I have a Nisssan X-Trail which does not have the room for another battery). Thanks Terry

dave06 · Guru

all depends on how long you intend to camp without power, if you have a 100 amp hour battery on board your vehicle as a main "starter" battery then an overnight camp with an engel 40 ltr (39ltr actually but I call it 40) and a light or two will not affect the starting capability of your vehicle

if you intend to camp more than one night then may I suggest a "power pack" waeco puts out about 3 sizes (I think) there is the "thumper, the "urban" and another that I cant remember, engel also puts them out but I dont know too much about them these start about the $300 mark but are very good

these are basically a large capacity gel cell deep cycle battery in a box with a handle and outlets and self recharging capabilities,

they are not cheap but do not discharge easily they last about 3 days without any input from any source running a 40 ltr fridge and a couple of lights, it can then be recharged by the vehicle when going to the next destination by means of your cigarette lighter outlet or 240 volt

or you could purchase an 800 watt "briefcase" style solar panel and recharge the power pack right at your campsite and never have to move on

the camping outlets are sometimes very good and sometimes very bad, the ones that are run by campers are good but most just want to make a quid and couldnt care less about you or what we really need,

information from travellers is always the best

do you have a "12 volt shop" near you, if not poke it in to google and just have a squizz at what is available,

ebay is also another good source for "used" gear and I have seen the waeco thumper for under $350 but anyway enjoy the chase and the time out there, ask anything you like about anything, someone in here will have the answer

-- Edited by dave06 on Friday 24th of April 2009 12:20:02 PM

Rolly · Guru

I'm not about to comment on your lack of grammar, punctuation and appropriate paragraphing Dave-o wink

, but - an Eight Hundred Watt solar suitcase??????

Jeez, you've developed quite a musculature to be able to port something like that around the place.

dave06 · Guru

yep i stand corrected should read "80 WATT"

and you leave my grandma out of this!!!

-- Edited by dave06 on Friday 24th of April 2009 12:32:15 PM

VK3FEMT · Senior Member

Gidday Terry;

Yep Dave has pretty much summed it up.
I have a three way in my bus. And whilst it works very well during the winter down here in Victoria, a few months back when things were warmer it was struggling and pushing it uphill without a spade and getting nowhere fast.

I've noticed mine will work even if not 100% level, although I don't mean you can park on the side of a hill and enjoy ice cold VB from your fridge.

The main problem with mine is that it doesn't run on 12v or 240v, apparently the motor is stuffed, and for what its worth getting it fixed I am better to put that money towards something decent and a bit bigger, they arn't the most roomy things going.

DubDub · Veteran Member

Don't know about the roads but 3 ways are not all the gloom most have erred upon.We just came back from 2wks on a remote Island off Gladstone.In all 47 people,all of whome used 3/ways on gas,no shops mind ya no power nadda-zip,those that did have solar arrays for power only fridges had a problem for the first week(overcast!)

Now for what I personly know to be fact.We bought a waeco ca-35 before we left to accompany our chescold cr41,300 bills and 2wks latter I could not have been happier with the results,even with the fact that the chescold is an ancient dinosaur.As for the leveling,thats what leveles are for and a good 12" one will do the job fine,if it's a fixed fridge,I have seen people with adjusting legs that do the job,sorry don't have a fix for 45 deg hills though.We diddn't have a freezer,but,a lot of the time the cooler components inside froze over in both fridges and cold beer wasn't a problem in moderation of course.Our meat was all cryvaced and what we brought home,2x4 pacs of rib-eye 1kg of mince and a lamb roast was nothing to what we had in the fridges by way of meat alone,and not one spoilage.We even had a problem of some vegatables starting to freeze a-bit.The 2nd wk on the Island was very hot to say the least even for this time of yr,both fridges got a 1/2 hr turn off to clean and recovered from being off sufficiantly because the food was still so cold.

On the 8hr trip both ways the fridges had been on 240 for 5hrs prior and the 12volt was copeing.Whould I have done anything differently?,not really,but,our friends did have a fridge/freezer one as well as a dedicated fridge and it used the same amount of gas(4kgs)over the 2wks.By the way we also have at home an old electralux 21 fridge/freezer that we powered up for nostalga before the trip and the beer in that ol girl was pretty cold also,not bad for a 24 odd yr 3/way and that was on 240/gas only.

Bottom line I guess is ya can help all applications(gas/12v/240)a bit by useing ya noggin and to rule out one from the three is silly,2ways have the advantage of a choice of cooling mechanisms where as 3ways don't I think,but both have their applications.The most popular on the Island trip(which dosen't mean the best by the way)were,Chescold,dometic(which use to be electralux I think)waeco,esspecially ours(grin)which in the 35 is also the same as the mobicoolSame company different name,there were a couple of primus but they are a bit costly for what ya get.So It looks like ya can have ya ice cream in a 3way if ya want,21 kids on the trip were seen eating a lot of it,cheers.

Glenn

dave06 · Guru

I still have an absorption fridge in little blue, electrolux, in excess of 20 years old and running like new, up north (past arkaroola) when the temps dropped below 2degs overnight the coke cans burst, when the temp exceeded 30degs the coke (and the beer, and meat) was hot (couldnt win) I have the obligatory fans in the rear of the fridge as well as parked it on the shady side and level and service it regularly, it is running correctly

absorption fridges will not come anywhere near the cooling capacity of a compressor fridge, common fact

I had a waeco absorption for one trip to wilpena, average of 32 deg days, overnights of 18 -20, meat was rancid, came back home and resold it through our camping shop and grabbed another new engel that was on special, wont be without now,

I used to use a "bullseye" bubble level to get it pretty close but if the fridge isnt up to it then there is no point,

if overnight temperatures drop low enough for the fridge to "recover" then one could keep things cold but if overnight temps stay high then they dont have a chance

I would buy a waeco fridge freezer combination if I wasnt going into the rough stuff although I guess protected properly then even that wouldnt be a problem, but it would be the "Kompressor" type, not absorption

if you have a good run out of your absorption then that is great, but I didnt and still dont, I use the camper fridge as a secondary and the engel as primary

I use solar to recharge my batteries when sitting and have had no problem even in overcast conditions, most panels will easily deal with up to 40% overcast and still produce up to 50% capacity, an 80 watt breifcase panel will still produce up to roughly 40 watts, I know because that's what I use and have done for many years all over this country, daily draw of a 40 ltr engel approx 20 watts

I have "sat" many times with this method enjoying ice cold beer on 40 degree days and 25 deg nights on many occasions

but it sounded like a good trip and enjoyed by all

Cupie · Guru

dave06 wrote:

absorption fridges will not come anywhere near the cooling capacity of a compressor fridge, common fact

I had a waeco absorption for one trip to wilpena, average of 32 deg days, overnights of 18 -20, meat was rancid, came back home and resold it through our camping shop and grabbed another new engel that was on special, wont be without now,

I used to use a "bullseye" bubble level to get it pretty close but if the fridge isnt up to it then there is no point,

if overnight temperatures drop low enough for the fridge to "recover" then one could keep things cold but if overnight temps stay high then they dont have a chance

I would buy a waeco fridge freezer combination if I wasnt going into the rough stuff although I guess protected properly then even that wouldnt be a problem, but it would be the "Kompressor" type, not absorption

if you have a good run out of your absorption then that is great, but I didnt and still dont, I use the camper fridge as a secondary and the engel as primary

but it sounded like a good trip and enjoyed by all

What Dave says parallels my experience.

Given the questionable performance of my 'Tropical' Electrolux upright in the van, I have researched & researched, fitted a fan & ensured the installation & insulation is as per manufacturers & refrigeration experts instructions etc. I had it tested by a trusted refrig mechanic.
All to no avail. It's good until the amient temp gets above 30 degrees.

I am of the view that the uprights suffer from the problem of the cold air 'falling' out when the door is opened. Their relatively slow recovery time doesn't correct the situation quickly enough. This observation is supported by the fact that the stuff in the freezer section stays that way whilst the temp in the fridge part gets well above the recommended 5 degrees.
Although not confirmed I have been told of new models that have sliding shelves with clear perspect fronts to address this issue.

Based on this I believe that the chest types may well perform better than the normal uprights absorption ones that are fitted to vans & many motorhomes.

In any case my Engel looks after the important stuff.

ps. The cryovac option sounds great for keeping the meat fresh & maybe less temperature dependent ...

-- Edited by Cupie on Monday 27th of April 2009 07:14:44 AM

DubDub · Veteran Member

Cupie,

Yes cryvac was the only way to go as we don't have a freezer model fridge,that said,we don't see the nesessity for a freezer any way in our size range.We had many a day over 30 deg on the Island and as I stated above the cooling fins on both ancient and brand new fridges froze over.They were loosly packed but full to the brim and I doubt our old up-right would have coped.

Regardless of the type of unit/units one has,proper thought needs to go into what ya really need in the fridge to start with.Bad management/decisions carn't allways be fixed when totally isolated and there is that ambient temp thing to be factored in as well.I would think that for two adults/2wks in isolation a 45 ltr absortion fridge could do the job with a bit of common sense,2 of them would be a breeze.The less isolated ya are,the easier the management becomes.

Glenn.